Style Academy

     Style Academy seems like a pretty cool site so far. I like they way they break down the concepts into their simplest elements is really helpful. My favorite exercise so far has been the sentence combining. I always get comments on my writings that my sentences don't make sense, and it's because I try to pack a lot of information into one sentence, so it just comes out like gibberish, kind of like how this sentence is becoming.
   
     What I liked about it was how they took real examples from literature, and tore apart each thought that the writer had, and then helped you see how many ways you could put the thoughts together to change the tone or voice.
   
     I think this website is going to help me with my writing, by helping me sound more clear and to put more thought into what I am saying.
   
     There are so many different tricks that can be used in forming just a single sentence, to help convey an idea. I'm excited to learn these tricks.

Sentence Combining Exercise:

1. People who become highly productive learn to acknowledge and embrace their failures, and to explore and to learn from them.

2. In the late 1990's when I could no longer see my feet, I made an appointment with a Paris eye doctor who ran some tests, and sent me off to buy some glasses. I'd like to blame my choice on the frames on the fact that I couldn't see them clearly. I'd even like to say that they were forced upon me, though neither excuse is true. I chose them freely, and this I did because I thought they made me look smart and international. The frames had rectangular lenses, that weren't much larger than my eyes, surrounded by dark plastic. There was something vaguely familiar about them, but I could not put my finger on what it was. After I picked them up, I spent a great deal of time staring at my reflection in the mirror, and pretended to make some intelligent comments regarding the state Europe.


Imitation:

Sometimes, according to Edwin Teale, a gall gnat larva, which does not resemble the adult in the least, and which has certainly not mated, nevertheless produces within its body eggs, live eggs, which then hatch within its soft tissue.
     Sometimes [STUFF] gall gnat larva [STUFF] produces [STUFF] eggs [STUFF]

   My imitation:

     Sometimes, according to my best friend, Mormon boys, who have just returned home from their mission, and have certainly have not dated in years, find spouses, in a few short weeks, and then marry them in a few short months.